Member Info for Stuartrm

Hopefully the reference in today’s RNS to the operation of six elderly care homes means that they are six care homes for elderly occupants rather than six elderly buildings.

Am I the only one who is being to think that the only skill of the skilled person is to string out the review for as long as possible? Surely an update, including the costs, progress, interim conclusions and the anticipated completion date, is now long overdue.

At the risk of giving egg sucking lessons, while long term one might expect the share price to correlate with the underlying value of the assets, the share price in the short term merely reflects what buyers and sellers will pay or accept, respectively, for the shares. Any “value” that was attributed to them in 2016 is, therefore, irrelevant. When more people expect to make money from the shares than expect not to, the price will rise. Individual investors will have their own reasons for deciding whether or not the risk/reward balance is favourable but at the moment the falling share price tells us that the majority think it is not. Anyone who disagrees will either need to sit tight, like I intend to do, or cash out and move on.

I have copied this from AmorAmor77's posting on CTL. I hope he/she does not mind but it might be of interest to readers here.

https://stockhead.com.au/resources/high-voltage-lithium-market-recovery-narrative-picks-up-perfect-storm-brewing/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Stockhead%20Morning%20Newsletter-03-13-2024&utm_content=httpsstockheadcomauresourceshighvoltagelithiummarketrecoverynarrativepicksupperfectstormbrewing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20email%20Thursday%20March%2014&utm_content=Morning%20email%20Thursday%20March%2014+CID_94cb727a3efb73de1401d881721fbe2e&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=High%20Voltage%20Lithium%20market%20recovery%20narrative%20picks%20up%20Perfect%20storm%20brewing

A useful link

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/lithium

Today’s RNS could be clearer. Apart from the currency being denoted by a question mark, rather than a recognised symbol such SF, £, € or $, it gives the money received without stating what was paid and when it was paid. In short, it is an amateurish announcement that does not provide confidence in the management. Rather than saying that what will be received is at the upper end of expectations, why not give clear figures and let the market decide how good the return is without needing a trawl through historical records to work out what has happened?

RNS today reads, in part, "Duke Capital Limited, a leading provider of hybrid capital solutions for SME business owners in Europe and North America, is pleased to announce it has increased its equity stake in United Glass Group ("UGG") from 30.0% to 73.8% through a £2.9 million secondary share purchase from existing shareholders."

This suggests to me that UGG have significant financial problems at the moment. Any other views?

Sorry if this has already been posted but in case it has not, ST tips JLP in the IC today as a buy at 5.3. No target given but the suggestion is 11p, which is given as the W H Ireland fair value.

Tipped today by ST in the IC, as a recovery buy with a Liberum target of 96p

PCT is about 2935 at the time of writing, which is comfortably above the previous peak of about 2746 at the end of Dec 2021. SMT, in comparison, is about 809 today versus about 1543 at the peak two years ago. If these two funds are in any way comparable, SMT should rise more than 15 to 17%, Strictlyzinc. I would be delighted if it did, but I won't hold my breath.

Looking at this site:

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/lithium

it looks as if the price of lithium has started to turn. One swallow does not make a summer, and all that sort of thing, but hopefully the bottom has now been reached.

It looks to me as if Pulsiv are producing designs, which manufacturers of power packs and the like may purchase and/or license. Pulsiv's manufacturing appears to be limited to what are effectively prototypes, which demonstrate the feasibility of their designs. They are therefore reliant on manufacturers adopting their designs. Presumably they will get an initial sum for the licence and some sort of royalty on whatever is manufactured and sold. I would be interested to see the detail of this but, assuming I am right, they will not have to pay for any costly manufacturing set up or any work in progress, distribution and sales networks.

Thank you for the clarification, MrAmericano. I am unclear, however, whether your reference to the east applies to Ukraine or Taiwan. Despite recent huffing and puffing over helping Ukraine, it is looking increasingly likely that Europe cannot help materially (aided by deliberate foot dragging by Germany with Taurus, and by France in general) and America won’t help (Mr Johnson in Congress). The danger, as we all know, is that Ukraine will collapse and China will become emboldened over Taiwan. If that happens, any 15% tariffs that a re-elected Mr Trump might apply could be the least of our worries, even if the risk of Russia simultaneously expanding into Moldova and beyond is discounted.

As the old saying goes, we live in interesting times.

On 14 Feb 24 I wrote “RNS on 13 Nov 2023 said "The Phase 1C report is due to be delivered to the FCA, by no later than 28 February 2024. Further updates will be provided as appropriate." So I guess we will get notification that the submission has occurred, or that it has not and hopefully why the date was missed, at about the end of this month.”

It is now 28 Feb and disappointingly there is no update as yet.

It is difficult to judge what will happen with Russia and Mr Donald Trump, Mr Americano. With respect to Mr Hunt, I doubt he will be anywhere near as radical (to put it politely) as Mr Kwarteng. Moreover, even if he were foolish enough to try such wild tax cuts, given the market reaction to those of Mr Kwarteng, he is likely to be replaced by Ms Reeves within a few months. Whether or not she would be an improvement is not for me to say. In any event, the UK economy is too small to cause a global inflation shock so any damage that might be caused by a UK chancellor would be of domestic, rather than of international, concern.

While I understand the sentiment, because of the size of the swings, SMT has been in an (albeit slow and choppy) upward trend since May last year. Some of my other funds have similar trends. Out of them, the best performing has been PCT. You might wish to look at that one. This s not a recommendation and as usual, do your own research.

RNS on 13 Nov 2023 said "The Phase 1C report is due to be delivered to the FCA, by no later than 28 February 2024. Further updates will be provided as appropriate." So I guess we will get notification that the submission has occurred, or that it has not and hopefully why the date was missed, at about the end of this month.

Hopefully it won’t go to 30p a share via 10 for 1 consolidation!

I suppose I should have anticipated the likely share price performance of MV. The name Molten Ventures suggests that the investments are in meltdown, does it not?

I asked Bing if PGMs are used in batteries and got the following reply:

Certainly! Platinum group metals (PGMs) are indeed utilized in lithium batteries, particularly in the pursuit of more efficient and advanced energy storage technologies. Here are some key points:

Lithium Batteries and PGMs:

Platinum group metals (which include elements like platinum and palladium) play a crucial role in enhancing battery performance.

These metals are used as catalysts within the battery system, specifically in the cathodes.

The goal is to improve rate capability (how quickly the battery can charge and discharge) and reduce the charge over potential.

PGMs contribute to the stability and efficiency of lithium batteries.

Recent Developments:

Platinum Group Metals (PTM) and its subsidiary Lion Battery Technologies have been at the forefront of this research.

Lion Battery Technologies was established by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and PTM to accelerate the development of next-generation battery technology using platinum and palladium.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a second patent to Florida International University (FIU) related to the use of PGMs in lithium batteries.

The patent covers a preparation method using PGM catalysts in carbon materials for cathodes in various lithium batteries, including lithium-ion, lithium-air, and lithium-sulfur batteries1.

Potential Applications:

PGM-enhanced batteries have the potential to significantly improve the performance of battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

Additionally, PGMs find applications in other green technologies, such as cleaner emissions equipment for internal combustion engines and hydrogen fuel cell power generation in cars and trucks12.

In summary, PGMs are making strides in battery technology, aiming to create more efficient and sustainable energy storage solutions. 🚗⚡🔋

If this is correct, then regardless of the type of vehicle PGMs will be required. How much of each metal there would be in each type of vehicle is not clear from the above, but electric vehicles contain large numbers of cells so intuitively one might expect them to need more than trace amounts. In addition, there are various battery storage schemes being developed to support electricity generation projects. This suggests the future might be brighter than the market is currently suggesting.